Keynote speakers and panellists

Iain McGilchrist, former clinical director of the Maudsley hospital and author of The Master and His Emissary.

Richard Erskine, director of the institute for Integrative Psychotherapy in Vancouver.

Jenny Edwards, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, will appear on our Question Time panel.

Workshops

We are pleased to be able to present six stimulating and thought-provoking workshops.

Wheelbarrows, taxis and the Big Bad Wolf: working with metaphor with children and adults
Working at depth with our client’s metaphors allows us to explore and achieve a better understanding of the landscape of their inner world. Using case examples and experiential exercises, this workshop reflects on the importance of creating an imaginative space for phenomenological enquiry.

What can research do for us?
Most of us became psychotherapists to make a difference. To achieve this we need to use, even carry out, research. This workshop will discuss strategy and unveil a new UKCP research project. The Pathfinder is intended to help clinicians track client progress and contribute to a database of evidence on psychotherapy.

Therapy Online – A Secure Base in Separate Places
Can we create the essential Secure Base when we are not in the same room, if so how? We will look at those who have no alternative and those who choose to work remotely. The experiences of rupture and repair remain, and form the cornerstones of the secure base that result in effective therapy. In addition Online therapy allows a closeness, with a zone of proximal safety unavailable in same room sessions.

Principles of relational psychotherapy – Richard Erskine
Richard will also run a workshop on relational and integrative psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy and the politics of wellbeing
In 2010, David Cameron declared that “the country would be better off if we thought about wellbeing and quality of life as well as economic growth”, propelling wellbeing into the political limelight. The session will explore the philosophical, research and policy issues related to the wellbeing agenda – and how it relates to psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy as an ethical endeavour
Some use the language of psychological therapies which includes the notion of a treatment model and scientific evidence base. How would it be to emphasise the care in the caring professions, and speak instead of psychotherapy as an ethical undertaking, a fiercely difficult and vital process of remaining human with the other. Can we come together as colleagues and explore such differences?